EQB not charging on Anderson wallbox via, schedule

[StephenP]

Curious if anyone with an EQB has issues when trying to scheduling on a home wallbox charger?

We have an Anderson unit and it is set with a schedule to charge overnight. With my e-tron, everything works as expected.

With my wife's new EQB, it fails to start when the schedule kicks in. It will only work if I unplug it and plug it back in! It's as if the car only communicates when the cable is first plugged in, when the charger is disabled as the schedule hasn't started yet, and decides there is no power, then ignores the signal sent later when the schedule starts (if that makes sense!)

It doesn't seem to be possible to do the scheduling from the car or the Mercedes Me app either, so that's not an option.....

[somouk]

My pal has a similar issue with his Zoe, car goes to sleep if the time between plug in and charge is too long.

His only option seems to be to leave the car unlocked and then it works.

[thebraketester]

somouk said:

My pal has a similar issue with his Zoe, car goes to sleep if the time between plug in and charge is too long.

His only option seems to be to leave the car unlocked and then it works.

Was the with the Andersen? I really want to get the Andersen but a few things are starting to put me off.

[somouk]

No, was a podpoint charger. The fault is with the car in this instance and not the charger. The charger can't negotiate with the car as the car is asleep.

[dapprman]

somouk said:

My pal has a similar issue with his Zoe, car goes to sleep if the time between plug in and charge is too long.

His only option seems to be to leave the car unlocked and then it works.

Zoes have charge scheduling, so he should have set it up in the car. (unless the very early ones did not and it was not firmware updated).

[deckster]

dapprman said:

somouk said:

My pal has a similar issue with his Zoe, car goes to sleep if the time between plug in and charge is too long.

His only option seems to be to leave the car unlocked and then it works.

Zoes have charge scheduling, so he should have set it up in the car. (unless the very early ones did not and it was not firmware updated).

Never had an issue with our 2022 Zoe. Schedule it from the charge point and it takes the charge just like you'd expect. To be fair I think the longest delay we've set would have been around 6 hours but I'd expect that to be plenty of time for it to go to sleep if it were going to.

[StephenP]

thebraketester said:

Was the with the Andersen? I really want to get the Andersen but a few things are starting to put me off.

Our Andersen unit looks very smart and we had the longer cable fitted. The installation was good, once we finally got them to sort out a date!

It's not perfect though as whenever the power goes off, we lose the schedules we've set! Their tech support said they'd fixed it but it still has the same issue. It's as if the schedule is stored in the unit and not on their cloud platform.

The other irritation has been a couple of service outages that meant the app wouldn't connect, or forgot our credentials. Not a huge issue as the unit defaults, to always on but annoying all the same.

I suspect many of the charger brands have apps and services that are pushed to market quickly rather than after a decent testing cycle!

[somouk]

dapprman said:

Zoes have charge scheduling, so he should have set it up in the car. (unless the very early ones did not and it was not firmware updated).

It is an early car. No scheduling on the car as far as he is aware.

[Bowside]

So I take it MB haven't added scheduling still then?

Really frustrating as I have a dumb wall box, and was assuming the car could schedule charging like every other car, and it arrives in November with an Octopus Go transfer - does anyone sell a cable with a built in timer?? I really don't want to have to swap out the charging box

[somouk]

What charging box do you have? Swapping a box is pretty simple for a sparky as all the other stuff has been done, the issue is more so the costs associated with buying a smarter one.

[StephenP]

Bowside said:

So I take it MB haven't added scheduling still then?

Really frustrating as I have a dumb wall box, and was assuming the car could schedule charging like every other car, and it arrives in November with an Octopus Go transfer - does anyone sell a cable with a built in timer?? I really don't want to have to swap out the charging box

Correct, no scheduling by Mercedes on the EQB.

A quick update on our issue, MB blame the charger and say it happens on some others too and some the vendors have added a 'reset' option so the unit resets when the schedule starts.

Andersen had some suggestions that didn't help, so waiting for more feedback from them.

Meanwhile, Ivve tried some tests and it appears that leaving the car unlocked means it will start charging when the schedule begins. Nothing else helps and it seems the car doesn't notice the charging start, once the dash display has gone off and the car is locked. Basically, the same issue mentioned earlier with a Zoe.

My gut feel is that the car is at fault since our Audi works fine with the scheduling on the same charger. It seems the MB electronics don't play well with scheduling on some brands of wall box.

Someone told me MB used to do scheduling in the car but removed it? Maybe that's linked and their software has an issue with scheduled charging!

Other tha this annoying issue, the EQB is great and my wife loves it. Excellent range too.

Edited by StephenP on Wednesday 31st August 14:43

[Bowside]

somouk said:

What charging box do you have? Swapping a box is pretty simple for a sparky as all the other stuff has been done, the issue is more so the costs associated with buying a smarter one.

I've got an EVEC one fitted, similar to this, but an older model without the electronics that give you the app control

https://evec.co.uk/7-4kw-domestic-ev-charger-type-...

Sounds like I'm going to have to pay an extra £500 and swap it

[somouk]

Can always sell your existing dumb charger on, I could be interested in it if you did.

[Bowside]

somouk said:

Can always sell your existing dumb charger on, I could be interested in it if you did.

I might take you up on that, but I've just written to EVEC to see if they will help me with an upgrade to their Wifi enabled one.


Given all the experience to date, has anyone got the perfect setup for an EQB? I.e. where teh charging actually works during the cheap period AND you can actually lock the car

[StephenP]

Bowside said:

I've got an EVEC one fitted, similar to this, but an older model without the electronics that give you the app control

https://evec.co.uk/7-4kw-domestic-ev-charger-type-...

Sounds like I'm going to have to pay an extra £500 and swap it

You could look at a suitably rated mechanical timer, fitted between the main feed the charger.

If you do go with a new unit, make sure the manufacturer confirm it works with Mercedes.....

[Bowside]

Yes, absolutely, I'd have no idea how to fit a mechanical timer though - it looks like an OHME timer cable might be another option, but no idea if it would actually work - plus they are £400!

[hab1966]

Bowside said:

Yes, absolutely, I'd have no idea how to fit a mechanical timer though - it looks like an OHME timer cable might be another option, but no idea if it would actually work - plus they are £400!

I appreciate this probably wont appeal, but here is what i did...

I have an old Rolec (Dumb) charger that i modified to become a semi-smart unit. I used a Wifi switch that controls the supply to the Mode 3 Controller. An app allows me to turn the charger on/off remotely or i can set a time window that the unit is on/off.

I just plug the car in and when the time comes, the Wifi switch turns the charger on and then off, so i can take advantage of the Octopus low tarrif late at night.

This has worked with an Ipace and a Tesla M3 without issue.

[Bowside]

hab1966 said:

I appreciate this probably wont appeal, but here is what i did...

I have an old Rolec (Dumb) charger that i modified to become a semi-smart unit. I used a Wifi switch that controls the supply to the Mode 3 Controller. An app allows me to turn the charger on/off remotely or i can set a time window that the unit is on/off.

I just plug the car in and when the time comes, the Wifi switch turns the charger on and then off, so i can take advantage of the Octopus low tarrif late at night.

This has worked with an Ipace and a Tesla M3 without issue.

Sounds awesome, although it also sounds like you actually know what you are doing!! My electrical engineering skills start and stop with wiring a plug unfortunately! Good to know it worked without issue though as I have a good electrician who I guess might be able to fit a switch quite cheaply ahead of the EVEC unit.

Has anyone had any experience with OHME cables though?

[Bowside]

I thought I would share the latest from MB - quite unbelievable! Also very annoying that it will not ever be possible through a software update.


I am writing in response to your email, in which you had enquired whether it would be possible to have the facility to charge your newly ordered EQB at set times during the night when energy prices are at their lowest, or whether this will be possible via a future update.

Following reading your email, I approached Mercedes-Benz Technical Support team. In doing so, I have been advised of the following:

Mercedes-Benz Technical Support team have confirmed that as of now, it is currently not possible to set a tariff based time-period for the charging of an EQB. I can also confirm that it is not possible to have this feature added via a future update.

You will see I have included a link below. This link is to the owners manual of the new EQB, in which you will see all the possible available charging settings to view at your own perusal.

https://moba.i.mercedes-benz.com/baix/cars/243.6_m...

[StephenP]

That pretty much matches the response I got. Still in discussion with Andersen and MB separately as to why the car goes to sleep and then ignores the charger when it activates at 0.30am.

It seems the only way to ensure off peak charging is to get the charger to do it, either via a mechanical time switch (not ideal) or by picking a unit that definitely works with the EQB - allegedly the BP Pulse does but not convinced.

Edited by StephenP on Wednesday 14th September 10:06